Computers use resources, such as processor cycles, memory and/or electrical energy to perform or accomplish tasks by executing code. In many cases, processing a task does not have a linear relationship to accomplishing the task. For instance, consider a hypothetical scenario where a user enters an internet search query and the task is to generate 100 relevant results. In this example, assume that the first 50% of the processing accomplishes 99% of the task while the remaining 50% of the processing may satisfy the remaining 1%. Stated another way, the first 99 out of the 100 results are the same whether the task is processed 50% or 100%. So, the difference between processing the task to 50% completion and 100% completion can occur at the 100th position in the results. In many instances, both scenarios can satisfy the user's expectations. Thus, the second half of the processing utilizes processing resources, including electricity, without significantly enhancing the user's satisfaction with the search results.